It sounds like you have a good relationship with your SIL, which means she might be open to hearing budget alternatives in re: the flower girl dress. I wouldn't even spend more than $200 on a dress for myself, let alone a three year old. Would it be possible for you to tell her that your budget for a fancy,…

Thank you! It feels like I know a lot of pregnant women lately, and several have been very vocal about Bradley method/midwife/birthing center/water birth blah blah blah, and it has made me feel guilty about not caring as much.

I know! I bought a bunch of fabric last month in a fit of nursery inspiration, and it's just been sitting there, mocking my plans to sew curtains and a crib skirt.

It's like a really bad menstrual cramp, followed by some more light cramping. Take some ibuprofen beforehand if you do it. An evening on the couch with a heating pad made me feel a lot better.

Eccleston was my first, but Matt Smith is my favorite.

I know it wouldn't co-exist with the pill, but an IUD has a better track record than the pill, and the potential user error is nil. (I switched after forgetting my pill 3 nights in a row and then needing to drop $50 on Plan B. Because even after being on the pill for five years straight, I would still slip up…

Funny story time: I am 30 weeks pregnant. The other night, I was lying on the couch with my husband and looking at my belly and my belly button popped out. I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants, then did a swift 180 into sobbing hysterically because "I'm not READY for my belly button to pop!" My poor husband.

Oh, man. And period farts smell the worst.

I would only add that, in living together, you are tying your lives together in a stronger way, whether you eventually get married or not. A lot can happen in life. Are you willing to one day buy property with him without being married? How intermingled are your finances going to be, and what system will you use to…

I bought my dress at David's Bridal. Thanks for the judginess.

My ring cost all of $300, which was still a lot of money to us at the time. Hell, it's still a lot of money. I bought him a nice watch that he picked out, and he got a custom wood-inlay wedding band too. (Which he promptly lost. Don't get spendy on your husband's ring.)

Vo5 Moisture Milk conditioner. The cheapest of the cheap. I have really curly hair, so I don't like to shampoo that often, but I also hate the grimy feeling of just rinsing, or even just using my normal conditioner. My scalp always feels funky. So I use the V05 like a shampoo. You are probably going to use a good…

I know! How is she going that flat with a damn backup track behind her?

Not super impressed with Taylor Swift's performance. And what's with the circus people? Do not get.

But can't someone just scan for the weirdness, fulfill it, and still ignore something vital? I feel like concert putter-onners are probably on to that trick.

I don't think that getting distracted by poor writing makes you an asshole. (That would make me an asshole! Which I am not.)

No apologies for copy-pasting half of the sixth paragraph into the lede? Took me right out of the article.

I'm sorry. I'm a teacher, too, and pregnant with my first. I timed it so I could use 6 weeks of my paid sick time up at the end of the year as my maternity leave and still have the summer with my baby boy. I get sooo many pitying looks when I tell people I'm coming back to work in August. I was feeling proud of…

I married my husband after three years of living together and getting the "when are you gonna get married?" questions. I got pregnant (on purpose!) before our first anniversary, and people are all, "Didn't you just get married?" Like we're taking it too fast. And I, too, live in the South. It's just bizarre.

I lived with my husband for three years before getting married. He detects no difference, but then, it wasn't important to him to get married like it was for me. I feel more secure and committed as a married couple, but the biggest difference has been how others see us. It legitimizes things in the eyes of society…